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DinoHunt Corp
thumb|right DinoHunt Corporation '('DHC for short) is the corporation that owns and controls the entirety of operations on the planet FMM UV-32. Every Hunter must go through DinoHunt's approval process before being allowed to hunt on one of DinoHunt's many hunting tours. History Foundation FMM UV-32, first discovered in 2190 by Turan Choks, remained under tight control for almost 60 years by the now-defunct Planetary Exploration Group (PEG). While expanding its operations in other locations, the company became infamous for its secrecy and lack of any business model for the Dinosaur Planet. Eventually, Earth-born entrepreneur Elias Henriksen expressed interest in buying the planet from PEG. Planetary Exploration Group had been eager for a new company to bring tourist traffic to newly discovered planets, and Henriksen's plan to use FMM UV-32 as an exotic hunting destination was welcomed by most lawmakers. Thus, the ambitious Henriksen and a group of his peers spent their entire life's savings to create DinoHunt Corp in 2241, and claimed ownership of the planet in 2250, beating the enormous Galactic Corporation to it by mere hours and founding DinoHunt Corp in the process. To better organize the management structure of the fledgling business as well as to ensure protection from a buyout by GCorp, a Board of Investors was organized, compromized of Henriksen, his partners, and representatives from various megacorporations interested in ensuring the independence of the hunting company. In the years since its opening to customers, the company has opened several areas for hunting and even attempted to open a traveling zoo. First Hunting Tour When the first hunting tour was opened in 2260, the scope of Henriksen's endeavors was limited across the board. Only three weapons were available, none of which were produced by company-owned facilities. Six areas located around the planet's jungle-covered equator were available, but they all consisted of just fractions of the areas that would be opened a decade later. The dinosaur populations of these islands was limited to a handful of species, with Tyrannosaurus being unusually rare. Despite this lack of variety, people from across the galaxy flocked to this opportunity. It is notable that body cameras were not required - or even in use at all - during this period. Post-hunt body searches were conducted, but they were rudimentary in nature. The Ancient Temple sustained a small amount of damage during this time, as unmonitored hunters would remove pieces of stone from the walls. To this day, pieces of the temple remain floating around on the black market, their high prices indicative of today's difficulty in smuggling materials off the planet. This looseness called for the development of extensive new policies, although it is still unknown why none of these areas were reopened for the second tour. Second Hunting Tour Roughly three years after the start of the first tour and one month after its closure, a second one was opened to the public. This program saw the introduction of important new safety standards, such as body cameras, harsh misconduct penalties, and extensive post-hunt body searches. New areas were opened for this tour, including one that seems to have been the site of a human settlement. Six weapons were available this time, with the patented X-Bow, Rifle, and Sniper Rifle being manufactured in plants owned by the company. DinoHunt also introduced the option to select the time of day one could hunt. Running for almost four years, this would be the company's most financially successful endeavor of the decade. No single hunting tour has since made more revenue in thr same time span. Arctic Tour About two years into the second tour, in 2265, the Arctic Tour opened for hunting, taking place close to the planet's North Pole. The animals available on this tour were exclusively counterparts from the Earthly Ice Age, making the evolutionary trajectory of this planet a complete anomaly. This was the first tour to draw major criticism from clients. The Yeti's availability as big game was criticized as a rushed and ethically dubious decision given its physical similarity to humans. The Arctic Tour's roster being compromised of creatures too similar to the mammalian fauna of Old Earth also drew criticism, as clients were disinterested in hunting boars and rhinos after facing dinosaurs. For months, bad press became the rule rather than the exception. The hunting tours remained profitable, but less so than before. Whaling Voyage Shortly before the Arctic Tour was opened, DinoHunt Corp looked into the possibility of establishing an underwater hunting tour. However, due to the fact that oceans of FMM UV-32 were barely explored, the hunting corporation was very reluctant about it. Perhaps DHC would have never branched off into aquatic hunting if it wasn't for a gift Elias Henriksen received. An antique copy of "Moby Dick" gave the CEO of the company an idea to start a whale-hunting tour themed after 19th century whaling craft. As it required much less equipment and prior exploration, the idea was embraced by investors, and so the concept of Ahab's Whaling Voyage was born. Preparations for the opening of this voyage started in the late 2265, not long after the Arctic Tour has started its course, and DinoHunt commissioned Mittelmeer Ship Industries for a set of whaling ships styled after the vessel from Herman Mellville's book. Announced and opened in late 2266, Ahab's Whaling Voyage became a quick success, and the thrill of downing gigantic cetaceans and other marine monstrosities across several locales in the open sea of the Dinosaur Planet was an unforgettable experience. Despite the general popularity among galactic population, however, DinoHunt's first nautical venture found its critics still, mostly compromised of various eco-activist groups decrying the continued exploitation of the planet's native fauna, especially cetaceans. Nonetheless, even this criticism didn't stop Whaling Voyage from bringing even more fame and profit to DinoHunt Corp, and it eventually became one of the company's longest-running tours. Traveling Zoo, Crater City Incident, and Aftermath With profits brought in by Whaling Voyage, DinoHunt Corp was ready to expand into a completely new market. In early 2267, Henriksen announced that they would be opening a traveling zoo. First stops of the galactic tour on Lucent and the Tandu Outpost were an immense success. Public reception was overwhelmingly positive, with the live sustainability technology used to transport the dinosaurs being particularly praised as innovative and scientifically advanced humane methods of keeping the animals safe. However, in July of 2267, the ship transporting the zoo, DinoCorp VII, would have an unforeseen crash-landing on Tranquility, a peaceful colony world, right next to its capital of Crater City. This crash-landing disabled the cryostasis tubes the dinosaurs had been kept in, and the creatures escaped from the ruined vessel in droves, taking the city authorities by complete surprise and inflicting great casualties on the civilian population. While the animals were eventually suppressed by company Agents, dozens among their ranks were killed as well. With the carnage dealt by dinosaurs for the first time on property not owned by DinoHunt, the company now faced an enormous public and legal outcry. Settlements were reached with the families of fallen victims, and the Crater City Renovation Fund was set up to ensure normalization of relations with the colony's government. Nevertheless, ensuing stock market instability caused by the tragedy, as well as general disdain from the galactic public for failing to effectively evacuate the city, pushed the hunting corporation to the verge of bankruptcy. While this incident was financially disastrous for the DinoHunt, certain factors - such as the city's history with DinoHunt Corp, the Agents being given inflated salaries by condition of the "life and limb" contract, the coordinated, if ineffective, evacuation efforts, creation of the Restoration Fund, and a public apology from Henriksen himself - tempered potential lawsuits and calmed down the stock market. Additionally, the continuous steady profits from the still-running Whaling Voyage tour eased the financial crisis the corporation was facing. Were any of these factors not present, it is extraordinarily likely that DinoHunt would have gone bankrupt soon after the Crater City Incident. Even still, the company's profits were plummeting out of control. Now in dire financial straits, DinoHunt Corp was desperate for profit. Henriksen developed a more cheerful and public-friendly persona, and the company opened a zoo on FMM UV-32. These three measures are widely credited for the company's survival in the harrowing months following the disaster. In the background, however, DinoHunt was hard at work rebuilding its old tours and preparing for all-new ones...as well as other means of securing funds decidedly less ethical in nature. Triassic Tour In October of 2268, DinoHunt opened its notoriously harsh Triassic Tour, advertising it as the "most intrepid hunting experience in the universe". The Triassic Sector is populated overwhelmingly by archosaurs and pre-Mesozoic fauna with extremely tough hides. Its climate alone has resulted in the deaths of over 20 clients, making water bladders a requirement. For the first time in six years, new weapons were introduced to hunters, most of which were not manufactured by DinoHunt facilities. The opening of this Tour was criticized by many as an apparent rush-job to boost revenue and overshadow the approaching one-year anniversary of the still-looming Crater City Incident. Accusers pointed to evidence such as the prevalence of poachers, their hunting dogs, and the Ancient-related environmental hazards, the latter of which the company handled so poorly that some question whether they even knew about them. During the first two years of the program, poachers were killed and driven out of the regions by regular clients, who were given free hunting subscriptions in return for their service. Criticism of these hurdles was not as crippling as it may have been five years earlier; people wanted to hunt dinosaurs again, and ethics mattered less than ever. As a tongue-in-cheek response to public reactions to the Triassic Sector's harshness, the company named the tour's most volatile area "Greenshire" and provided a description promising hunters ease and leisure when hunting in the location. While regular clients generally appreciated this display of humor, newer clients often immediately ended their hunts and publicly complained about company dishonesty. The Triassic Tour remained open for a long time, and over the course of its run many of the unforeseen dangers that attracted bad press have been accounted for. Poaching still occurred, but those who did it chose to avoid areas where hunters were present. The most seasoned clients took pride in hunting in the Triassic Sector, and a certification of a successful hunt was often flaunted for bragging rights. Reopened Tours In 2269, Hunting Tour Mk.II and the Arctic Tour were quietly reopened. Their lack of changes have been met with both praise and criticism, but both have been recently altered to include more options. Expanded Central Tours (South-Central Tour and beyond) In 2270, exactly 10 years after opening their very first hunting tour, DinoHunt reopened and greatly expanded the areas from it to celebrate the anniversary. This, the first new tour in years featuring jungles and large dinosaurs, was officially entitled the South-Central Tour. Press regarding this tour was more positive than it had been since before the Crater City Incident, and an unprecedented influx of hunters embraced it. At present, the Central Tours are lauded not just for their accessibility, but for their variety in weapons, huntable animals, and hunting areas. Also notable is their lack of poaching activity and continually healthy populations. Arctic Expansion In early April of 2272, a company spokesperson teased the opening of a new Arctic Tour that will take advantage of Northern mammals whose existence currently remains undisclosed to the public. As of March 2273, the final preparations are being made for this new tour. Gojirasaurus Incident Over a two-day period in December of 2271, several Triassic Tour clients were accidentally warped into the wrong location: a DinoHunt outpost littered with the ravaged corpses of man and beast alike. Speculation was rampant among these clients, with theories ranging from a outpost being raided by dinosaurs to gigantic birds that destroyed all in their path. Henriksen's explanation - that the site was the result of a tyrannosaur migration gone awry - was exposed as a lie in May of that year, when an unknown source illegally released secretly-recorded footage of what he felt pressured to hunt: a horrific abomination of a dinosaur he said DinoHunt called Gojirasaurus. Details continued leaking over the summer, and most now believe that the Gojirasaurus was one of many bioweapons that DinoHunt intended to sell to a multi-planetary client. What this source was has not been revealed, but mounting evidences point to GCorp, which in turn got the information from a disgruntled DHC employee; Henriksen himself has never confirmed or denied these rumors. Eos Tour In early 2273, the first tour to take place entirely in the Southern Hemisphere was announced: the Eos Tour. Economic Impact DinoHunt Corp has many financial connections and lucrative deals established with other prominent megacorporations of the galaxy, such as Mittelmeer Ship Industries. These connections are strengthened by the presence of representatives from these megacorps in DinoHunt's Board of Investors. Furthermore, this helps the hunting company establish headquarters and develop influence on prominent worlds, such as in Crater City on Tranquility. DinoHunt Corp also participates in the Underdeveloped Colony Assistance Initiative, investing a great part of their profits into helping financially struggling colonies. This, however, means some of these worlds become heavily reliant on DinoHunt aid, and whenever megacorp experiences financial difficulties, these colonies face economic crises. Category:DinoHunt Corp Category:Lore